SAINTS CYRIL, MONK, AND METHODIUS, BISHOP (MEMORIAL)

Do you not yet understand or comprehend? 

“Lord, I do want to understand more thoroughly, but there is so much I don’t yet grasp about who you are, why you do what you do, and what you want me to do. How should I deal with this kind of confusion?

“At least I seem to be in good company, Lord. I can easily identify with the disciples in the boat in today’s Gospel. When you warned them about the ‘leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod’ (Mark 8:15), they supposed you were cautioning them where not to shop for the lunch they had forgotten to pack. But you seemed to have had something bigger in mind. So you started asking questions, taking them back to the times when you fed the crowds (6:35-44; 8:1-9). You showed them that even when they couldn’t solve the problem themselves, you were able to take care of everyone—too little bread was certainly not a problem for you!

“Lord, just as you patiently entered into dialogue with your disciples, I know you don’t mind when I lay my questions before you. Please listen in as I wrestle with them! I trust that, far from making you angry, my questions give you the chance to show me the state of my own heart. So help me to be honest with you about what’s bothering or confusing me. Help me to understand myself better.

“Lord, please speak to me. I am trying to listen so that this can be a two-way conversation. As you did for the disciples, please bring to my mind the times when you have provided for me and provided for other people through me. I’m open to anything you want to use to speak to me: a mental picture, a familiar hymn, a Scripture passage. I want to be quick to follow your lead, but that means I need to grow in listening and understanding.

“So when I’m confused, help me turn to you first. I know that you love me and want the very best for me. Help me to trust that you are at work right now, even though there is so much I don’t understand.”

“Jesus, I long to understand your ways better and better. Help me to keep listening!”

Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
Psalm 29:1-4, 9-10
Mark 8:14-21